By Diep Tran
In the first days Robbi Farschman spent as the new director of the Connective Corridor, she received a mysterious package from an unknown sender. Inside was a Humpty Dumpty figurine with a note attached. “I’m watching you,” it said.

To anyone else, the sentiment would have been creepy. Farschman just laughed and went straight to work. She has only been the director since June and already, she has established several goals, two of which are to redefine the public perception of the Connective Corridor and encourage more ridership.

Everyday – twice an hour during summer and three times an hour during the school year – bright red buses roam the streets of Syracuse, going from Syracuse University to downtown. For many people, the bus is the Connective Corridor. Changing this belief is one of Farschman’s campaigns. “The Connective Corridor is not a bus,” she said. “The Connective Corridor is more of an idea that here is a great path through the city, where art and culture are everywhere, and the bus is another way to get you there.”

The Connective Corridor was first conceived in 2006 as a joint initiative between the City of Syracuse and Syracuse University and was a way to integrate the university and its students with the downtown area. With a FREE bus route that stops at key cultural institutions, and future streetscaping and bike paths, the Connective Corridor aims to encourage more foot traffic and economic growth in Syracuse.

Yet such details are lost on many students. To them, the Connective Corridor is just another bus. And with any bus, there is an unfortunate caveat: waiting for it. Calvin, a student at Syracuse University, takes the campus shuttle to get to his apartment but takes taxis to downtown. “The bus is slow, and it has to stop at every stop. Taxis drive much faster,” he said. Calvin usually goes downtown to the restaurants, though he does recall going to the Museum of Science and Technology at the beginning of his first year. He is now a fourth-year student. When asked if he knew what the Connective Corridor was, he replied, “It’s the bus, right?”

Farschman admits that this misconception about the Connective Corridor is understandable. “For the last few years, those buses have been the only physical manifestation of the Corridor. They look different, so when people think ‘Connective Corridor,’ it’s these buses that come to mind.”

The first three buses on the Connective Corridor were launched in 2006 and averaged approximately 100 riders a month. In 2009, the total ridership approached 10,500, or less than 900 riders a month. In comparison to the other bus routes at SU, the numbers are small. In 2009, the SU shuttles transported approximately 1.9 million riders, and the Carousel Mall shuttles numbered 55,000 riders.

This difference is not something that Al Sauer, the director of SU Parking and Transit Services, finds alarming. He reasons that in time, students will become more acclimated with it. “Students are becoming savvier with the bus line and routes,” he shared. “I think that the Connective Corridor route will naturally grow in riders over time.”

Even so, the other implication is that students are still not coming downtown as often as they are going to the mall, despite the many cultural venues and areas such as Armory Square, which have much to offer in the way of night-life. To tackle such an issue will take more than a vibrant red bus – it will take a new marketing campaign.

Tara Nelson, a student at Syracuse University, is a communications intern for the Connective Corridor. Among other things, she is helping Farschman work on a marketing campaign so that the community has a shared understanding of the Connective Corridor. Nelson admitted that during her first two years at the university, she rarely ventured downtown. Then she began an internship at MedTech, which took her off-campus. The result was a revelation: “I really liked coming off the hill and getting involved in something bigger than the university.”

While marketing is underway, construction along parts of the Connective Corridor will begin in the fall. Over the next few years, University and East Genesee Streets, Forman Park, the Civic Strip, the Warehouse and other areas will see streetscape enhancements, installation of creative lighting and way-finding signage, landscaping, and bike and pedestrian improvements.

In the process, Farschman plans to compel more individuals to explore the Connective Corridor (by bus or other means) and connect with all of the amazing things Syracuse has to offer. “I describe the Connective Corridor in terms of a movement to really elevate arts and culture in the community,” she said. “The idea to me is that it’s never done – there’s always something more that you can do in these areas.”